AUGUST 2024
Anthony Anderson recently secured stable housing.
Home, sweet home!
In partnership with the Community Shelter Board, Mount Carmel’s Housing Outreach program serves community members experiencing homelessness who wish to enter shelter or housing.
“Our team of Housing Outreach Specialists meet with patients to connect them with shelter, work through housing program enrollment processes and support their completion of housing program applications,” says Roxann Payne, manager, Social Care. “While this housing process typically takes six to nine months, due to the limited availability of affordable units, the team provides transportation and hands-on navigation assistance for community members to obtain the required IDs and documentation to enter housing.”
Homelessness is a major social determinant of health. It’s very difficult for people to focus on their health and wellness when they don’t have a stable home.
Over the last year, 102 patients and community members successfully entered sustainable housing. Anthony Alexander is one of those success stories. You can read more about him in a special essay by Ryan Jefferson, lead housing specialist, Mount Carmel Social Care.
“Generous Foundation donors help fund Mount Carmel’s Community Health and Well-being programs and services. We are so grateful for their support,” says Payne.
We’re proudly advancing cancer care and treatment
Mount Carmel is the first central Ohio health system to offer mark-free radiation therapy for breast cancer. This advanced technology eliminates the need for traditional skin marks, providing a more comfortable experience for our patients and eliminating the constant reminder of treatment. Instead of physical markings, clinicians use a pattern of red lights to ensure precise treatment, improving accuracy and reducing treatment time. This is a significant step forward in patient care and Mount Carmel plans to expand this offering for other cancer treatments.
The Foundation provides funding every step of the way for cancer patients, including support for education opportunities that inform patient care, advanced equipment that improves medical outcomes, and Cancer Survivor groups that build a sense of community for those who have battled and beaten cancer.
Learn more about cancer care at Mount Carmel, including our innovative Oncology Nurse Navigator program.
Former Mount Carmel nursing colleague pays it forward
Always an education advocate and supporter, and an educator herself, Winifred “Winnie” Guthikonda, APN, MSN, RN, recently established a new endowment through the Mount Carmel Foundation to provide scholarships in perpetuity to Mount Carmel College of Nursing (MCCN) students. The first scholarship from the Yavorsky Guthikonda Nursing Scholarship Endowment will be awarded this fall.
Guthikonda worked for many years at Mount Carmel as a PACU nurse and perianesthesia clinical educator. She left the health system in 2017 to move nearer to her daughter in Maryland, where she is still educating the next generation of nurses.
“My faith and my education have helped me truly appreciate the value of life,” Guthikonda said. It is a privilege to be an educator of future nurses, who see people when they are most vulnerable. Respecting patients and doing whatever it takes are essential in our work.”
Guthikonda is looking forward to meeting her endowment’s first scholarship recipient at the MCCN Scholarship and Donor Recognition dinner on September 19. “My hope is to keep in contact with them, encourage and watch their progress over time,” she said.
Read more about Winnie and her generous gift in the Summer 2024 LAMP magazine.
In the final moments, they are not alone
Mount Carmel ensures that all life is honored, from its fragile beginnings to its equally fragile end. The No One Dies Alone program, pioneered at Mount Carmel East in 2022, is a collaboration of Volunteer Services, Palliative Care and Spiritual Care, and supported by Foundation donors.
Mother Teresa said, “No one should die alone. Each human should die with the sight of a loving face.” Befitting our Core Value of Reverence, the No One Dies Alone program honors the dignity and worth of every patient.
Specially-trained volunteers serve as vigil companions and interact with the patient, as appropriate, based on the needs of each person. Volunteers may play comforting music, read peaceful book passages, or simply sit at the bedside and hold the patient’s hand.
Volunteers make an impact each day by providing invaluable services to our patients and visitors that we would not otherwise be able to provide. If you are interested in serving our patients and visitors, pursuing personal growth, continuing a lifetime of learning, or returning a kindness shown to you while you were a patient, Mount Carmel has a unique variety of volunteer opportunities to match your interests.